Let's get the basics out of the way...Osaka is an ancient port city located on Osaka Bay in the Sea of Japan. Rivers criss cross the city, begetting the name "The City of Bridges." Osaka City covers just 222 sq km but has over 2.6 million residents. During the work week the population swells by 1 million. It is big bustling busy city. A sea of concrete. An ocean of people. And yet...
Osaka is a friendly small town, where you would love to raise your children and make a home. It has a very low crime rate (except for bike theft), low taxes (8%), a lovely climate (average temp ranges between 6-28 degrees C, average precipitation peaks at 266 mm/month during rainy season in June and July, and then there's typhoon season...OK, maybe not a lovely climate exactly...), and green space everywhere. One thing I love about Osaka is that Osakans value their greenery with a passion that's hard to describe. They voluntarily groom public parks and playgrounds. Almost every apartment and business has a small garden tended with love and devotion. Often it is in front of the building on what passes for a sidewalk. Sidewalks are sometimes just lines painted on the edge of the narrow road. They are used for pedestrian and bicycle traffic, and growing gardens, and driving and parking cars. People don't walk much here.
(Quick note on drivers in Osaka. An excellent but aggressive group. Considering the multi-level maze of roads that grew up around the old city and the nonchalant pedestrians you have to be damn good to drive here. The conditions for getting a license are stiff. However taxi drivers still have to be blind, suicidal, and willing to STOP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FRIGGING FOUR LANE ROAD! to get a fare.)
Osaka is best described as a cross between Vancouver (the climate, the ocean, the grey winter), Vegas (the lights! the pachinko parlours! the giant neon billboards!) and Salt Lake City (not in the Mormon way, but in the endless sea of black suits, and after you look past the concrete, the horizon is encircled by a ring of shadowy mountains). But the combination of friendly small town people and big big city is a combination hard to match on Canada. It's a city of dichotomies. The people in black suits sitting next to someone wearing every fasion trend of the eighties rolled up into one horrendously blinding outfit. The people who crouch in corners to do anything so rude as smoke or use their cellphone in public, compared with the comedians who will do anything for a laugh, including thrusting their leather hotpant clad crotches in the faces of small children to get them to stop crying (just as strange and much funnier than it sounds! (and it worked!)). There are complete opposites everywhere you look, walking side by side down the street, not just coexisting but thriving together.
I was going to write this huge long essay trying to describe Osaka (hard to believe but this was much longer before the computer ate it) but I haven't been here long enough to give anything more than a superficial portrait. I will try and break down the whys and whats I love (and ummm... dislike) about this city. Coming soon, the Bunny that Ate My Brain! (aka work).
Monday, April 25, 2005
Friday, April 15, 2005
FAQ #1: Our Apartment
I've decided to organize my first few posts around topics rather than daily events, because so much has happened since we've arrived. I've been getting a lot of questions about life here in Osaka, and I'm going to try to organize my thoughts as best as I can, but you'll have to forgive the occasional tangent. So first up, our apartment.We first arrived at our apartment around 8 in the evening. It was already dark and we wandered from the train station like lost children, following our guide, Steven from Nova, through underpasses and along narrow roads. All the while praying that the cars could see us on the side of the road. That particular path to our apartment did not come equipped with sidewalks, and we..., weren't that steady on our feet after flying for 12 hours and packing the 12 hours previous to that. Finally we rounded a corner and arrived at Joutou Green Mansion. Carl was expecting something more palatial with the name Mansion attached. But here, like home, marketing is everything.
Steven gave us a tour of our apartment, which he could do by standing in the hall. "At my left hand is your bedroom. At my right hand is your washroom. To my back is your kitchen and living room. Enjoy!" Actually, he stayed and turned on our gas, adjusted the hot water heater, and showed us the air conditioner/heater unit. Then he went to the 7-11 and got us some bottled water and batteries for the remote to our AC/heater unit and showed us how to work the thing. Then he told us about a faster and safer way to a different train station (what! no more playing in traffic!). Made sure there was nothing else we needed and left us alone for our first night in Osaka. Our first conversation in the apartment went something like this...
(stunned silence)
(exhausted silence)
Carl: 'Hey... did you notice the cemetery we passed right behind our apartment?'
Colleen: 'I was trying to ignore it...'
Carl: 'I wonder if there are any zombies?'
Colleen: 'I wouldn't know... Could we not talk about...'
Carl: 'It's just like in The Grudge with the angry spirits attacking the girl...'
Colleen: 'shut up Carl...'
Carl: 'And the elevator is just like in The Grudge too. I kept expecting to see faces glaring at us through the window...'
Colleen: 'Shut up Carl...'
Carl: 'Or like in The Eye where she sees a ghost standing in the corner of the elevator and then it slowly starts to turn around and she see that it doesn't have...'
Colleen: 'Shut. Up. Carl!!!'*
Then we laid out our futons, which were waiting for us in a small package outside the door, and I tried to sleep.
Our apartment reminds me of living in a motorhome. Narrow hallways and plastic units. Streamlined and compact. Not exactly small, just not an inch more space than is needed. We were each provided a pair of house slippers in the narrow entryway. Then there is a small step up into the hallway. On the right, you take a small step down into the bedroom. On the left you take a small step up into the bathroom. At the end of the hallway you take a small step down into the kitchen. Our kitchen contains 2 gas stove burners, a small fish broiler, a toaster oven, a plastic fridge with a crisper drawer and a freezer drawer, a small wooden table and 2 chairs. It also came equipped with 2 plates, 2 bowls, 2 mugs, 2 glasses, 2 knives, 2 forks, 2 large spoons, 2 small spoons, 1 butcher knife, 1 cutting board, 1 strainer, 1 large sauce pan, 1 small sauce pan, 1 large kettle, 1 mixing bowl, and 1 teeny tiny 1 egg frying pan. It also came with 3 garbage cans for sorting garbage, which is a story for another post.
The toilet is in it's own room. The pipe that fills the cistern comes out the top of the toilet and fills it from above. This is so you can wash your hands in the same room, saving time and water! I know of noone who actually does this, except Carl.
The shower and tub are separate, and in their own separate waterproof room. The tub is half the length of a North American tub but twice the depth. And there is no overflow drain, so you can fill it up to the rim. In traditional Japanese bathing you shower before you tub so you don't sit in your own dirt, then you rinse off again after the bath. It is very spa like and very relaxing. I turn on the hot water and it becomes my own private sauna.
The washing machine shares a room with the bathroom sink. The washing machine is cold water only. You press 2 buttons, it assesses the laundry load and adds the appropriate amount of water. It isn't that loud (despite any comparisons Carl may draw between it and things possessed). But you don't want to forget you have it on because it occasionally sounds like it's trying to talk or walk out of the room. And you really don't want to leave your cosmetics case on the machine because it could get thrown clear across the room. Not that I've ever done that, left my (or Carl's) cosmetics case on the washing machine. I blame the ghosts.
There is no dryer. In Japan, balconies are not for BBQ's and hanging out. They are for drying laundry, smoking (a lot of smoking, but again, another story), and growing plants. In fact you can annoy your neighbours quite a bit if you BBQ outside. Their clothes then smell like charcoal and meat.
Our apartment has a combination of carpet and laminate flooring except in the tatami room. Tatami mats are thick, finely woven grass mats. Quite silky and smooth. Even slippers are not often worn in tatami rooms. Apartments in Japan are measured in tatami mats, which are 3' x 6'. Each of our three rooms is 6 tatami mats, so 12' x 9'. Except we were told that Osaka mats a re a few inches smaller than in other cities, so round our square footage down a bit. Our tatami room also has the traditional sliding doors as well. We have a 14" TV/VCR unit and a worn leather loveseat. We sit there and watch TV we cannot understand, which is again another story for another post.
Our apartment also came with a small but powerful vacuum, a portable iron and ironing board, a mop and bucket, and a futon beater (not a wife beater Carl!).
So that's our apartment. This post is a little long, but I hope you have a better idea about where we live. Posts to follow soon include; 'Garbage! The schizophrenia of Japan,' 'Shopping! The hobby and the sport!,' and 'Teaching English. Would you like fries with that?.'
I miss you all, and look forward to writing to all of you soon!
Colleen
*(Any reports of Colleen telling Carl to shut up are highly fictionalized and may or may not have happened. No Carls were harmed in the production of this post. Any quotes attributed to Carl were reproduced with the full consent of Carl, whether or not he did or did not say it. Carl is a fully licensed trade name who may not be reproduced without express written consent of licenser. Carl may or may not be a fictional entity. Any resemblance to any Carl living or dead is purely coincidental.)
Steven gave us a tour of our apartment, which he could do by standing in the hall. "At my left hand is your bedroom. At my right hand is your washroom. To my back is your kitchen and living room. Enjoy!" Actually, he stayed and turned on our gas, adjusted the hot water heater, and showed us the air conditioner/heater unit. Then he went to the 7-11 and got us some bottled water and batteries for the remote to our AC/heater unit and showed us how to work the thing. Then he told us about a faster and safer way to a different train station (what! no more playing in traffic!). Made sure there was nothing else we needed and left us alone for our first night in Osaka. Our first conversation in the apartment went something like this...
(stunned silence)
(exhausted silence)
Carl: 'Hey... did you notice the cemetery we passed right behind our apartment?'
Colleen: 'I was trying to ignore it...'
Carl: 'I wonder if there are any zombies?'
Colleen: 'I wouldn't know... Could we not talk about...'
Carl: 'It's just like in The Grudge with the angry spirits attacking the girl...'
Colleen: 'shut up Carl...'
Carl: 'And the elevator is just like in The Grudge too. I kept expecting to see faces glaring at us through the window...'
Colleen: 'Shut up Carl...'
Carl: 'Or like in The Eye where she sees a ghost standing in the corner of the elevator and then it slowly starts to turn around and she see that it doesn't have...'
Colleen: 'Shut. Up. Carl!!!'*
Then we laid out our futons, which were waiting for us in a small package outside the door, and I tried to sleep.
Our apartment reminds me of living in a motorhome. Narrow hallways and plastic units. Streamlined and compact. Not exactly small, just not an inch more space than is needed. We were each provided a pair of house slippers in the narrow entryway. Then there is a small step up into the hallway. On the right, you take a small step down into the bedroom. On the left you take a small step up into the bathroom. At the end of the hallway you take a small step down into the kitchen. Our kitchen contains 2 gas stove burners, a small fish broiler, a toaster oven, a plastic fridge with a crisper drawer and a freezer drawer, a small wooden table and 2 chairs. It also came equipped with 2 plates, 2 bowls, 2 mugs, 2 glasses, 2 knives, 2 forks, 2 large spoons, 2 small spoons, 1 butcher knife, 1 cutting board, 1 strainer, 1 large sauce pan, 1 small sauce pan, 1 large kettle, 1 mixing bowl, and 1 teeny tiny 1 egg frying pan. It also came with 3 garbage cans for sorting garbage, which is a story for another post.
The toilet is in it's own room. The pipe that fills the cistern comes out the top of the toilet and fills it from above. This is so you can wash your hands in the same room, saving time and water! I know of noone who actually does this, except Carl.
The shower and tub are separate, and in their own separate waterproof room. The tub is half the length of a North American tub but twice the depth. And there is no overflow drain, so you can fill it up to the rim. In traditional Japanese bathing you shower before you tub so you don't sit in your own dirt, then you rinse off again after the bath. It is very spa like and very relaxing. I turn on the hot water and it becomes my own private sauna.
The washing machine shares a room with the bathroom sink. The washing machine is cold water only. You press 2 buttons, it assesses the laundry load and adds the appropriate amount of water. It isn't that loud (despite any comparisons Carl may draw between it and things possessed). But you don't want to forget you have it on because it occasionally sounds like it's trying to talk or walk out of the room. And you really don't want to leave your cosmetics case on the machine because it could get thrown clear across the room. Not that I've ever done that, left my (or Carl's) cosmetics case on the washing machine. I blame the ghosts.
There is no dryer. In Japan, balconies are not for BBQ's and hanging out. They are for drying laundry, smoking (a lot of smoking, but again, another story), and growing plants. In fact you can annoy your neighbours quite a bit if you BBQ outside. Their clothes then smell like charcoal and meat.
Our apartment has a combination of carpet and laminate flooring except in the tatami room. Tatami mats are thick, finely woven grass mats. Quite silky and smooth. Even slippers are not often worn in tatami rooms. Apartments in Japan are measured in tatami mats, which are 3' x 6'. Each of our three rooms is 6 tatami mats, so 12' x 9'. Except we were told that Osaka mats a re a few inches smaller than in other cities, so round our square footage down a bit. Our tatami room also has the traditional sliding doors as well. We have a 14" TV/VCR unit and a worn leather loveseat. We sit there and watch TV we cannot understand, which is again another story for another post.
Our apartment also came with a small but powerful vacuum, a portable iron and ironing board, a mop and bucket, and a futon beater (not a wife beater Carl!).
So that's our apartment. This post is a little long, but I hope you have a better idea about where we live. Posts to follow soon include; 'Garbage! The schizophrenia of Japan,' 'Shopping! The hobby and the sport!,' and 'Teaching English. Would you like fries with that?.'
I miss you all, and look forward to writing to all of you soon!
Colleen
*(Any reports of Colleen telling Carl to shut up are highly fictionalized and may or may not have happened. No Carls were harmed in the production of this post. Any quotes attributed to Carl were reproduced with the full consent of Carl, whether or not he did or did not say it. Carl is a fully licensed trade name who may not be reproduced without express written consent of licenser. Carl may or may not be a fictional entity. Any resemblance to any Carl living or dead is purely coincidental.)
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